Accidents Will Happen

Chapter Eight

The very moment the door was firmly closed behind her, Galinda exhaled a quiet but deep breath. She'd take a brief break to gather her wits, for this upcoming conversation certainly promised to be a tough one. She'd known all along that it was bound to be had at one point, but she'd never been too bothered when Elphaba had continued to put it off time and again. Now, there was no escaping it, and she hoped that she'd know the right things to say and do, so as not to affront Elphaba or inadvertently drive her away. They'd built an intimate rapport over the rather short span of time they'd spent together, and she was keenly aware of how fragile it still was. There was no way of telling how quickly Elphaba would withdraw again if Galinda made some kind of mistake.

She returned to the living room and paused, looking around and casting about for something useful to do. Her eyes fell on the beautifully made up table and the fallen chair, which she promptly picked up from the ground. Her hands lingered on the backrest, and she smiled tightly as she let them slide along the smooth quoxwood finish. Elphaba must have felt lonely and worried the past few days and yet, the first thing she'd done the moment she'd thought herself recovered enough had been to make it up to her with this breakfast. She could have simply explained away her rude behaviour. Knowing what she knew now, Galinda found it so very understandable. Even earlier, she'd suspected something of that sort and forgiven Elphaba anyway. All those things considered, it made her gesture only seem more heartfelt, and Galinda felt incredibly sorry about the disappointing course this morning had taken for her roomie.

Lifting her dejected gaze, she noticed their cups, still half full with cold, stale coffee. After emptying them out, she grabbed a clean pair of huge mugs from the cabinet and began to trawl through the pantry for the right variety of tea for the occasion.

Her flavour of choice: an organic peppermint blend—revitalising, calming, and nausea relieving. And delicious, she might add. It was her favourite. She poured piping hot water into the cups and popped two bags of tea into each of them, then brought them to the table and waited, listening for any sounds coming from the bathroom at the other end of the corridor.

After a fair while, the door handle clicked, and the door opened and closed. Galinda perked up, her back rod-stiff from uneasy anticipation. Her head snapped around, though from her vantage point she could hardly see more than a flash of green darting from one room to the next. Elphaba's door closed, and Galinda let her shoulders slump. She'd honestly hoped that she wouldn't make this any more difficult than it needed to be. On both of them. The way things looked, she'd have to go and cajole her out of her bedroom.

She pushed herself up with a sigh, then hesitated. How much time should she give Elphaba? Another minute or two? What if they talked about it tonight? Perhaps she owed Elphaba one more chance to bring up the topic voluntarily.

But then her thoughts were interrupted by another door click, which immediately drew her attention back to the corridor. Elphaba came into sight not long after, having changed into a fresh hoodie. A small weight lifted off Galinda's chest, and she let her lips quirk into an encouraging smile. Slowly, she lowered herself back into her seat.

Elphaba shuffled closer, dragging her feet, a bashful look on her face. She copped an almost shy glance at Galinda before licking her lips and plopping down onto her chair. Mumbling some indiscernible words of thanks, she accepted the tea that was pushed in her direction and trained her eyes on the steaming mug. Her hands embraced it with a vicelike grip, without regard for the heat, and Galinda could see her knuckles turning white.

"Relax," she said very softly, resisting her instinct to reach out and touch Elphaba's arm. "Take a sip. It might help."

Her arms unnaturally stiff, Elphaba did as she was told and lifted the cup to her mouth.